http://www.conduit-project.org/chrome/site/conduit_header_transparent.png

Conduit Documentation (Conduit 0.3.8)


What is Conduit

Conduit is a synchronization application for GNOME. It allows you to synchronize your files, photos, emails, contacts, notes, calendar data and any other type of personal information and synchronize that data with another computer, an online service, or even another electronic device. Conduit manages the synchronization and conversion of data into other formats. For example, Conduit allows you to;

Any combination you can imagine, Conduit will take care of the conversion and synchronization.

Use Cases

  • Fred wants to sync his tomboy notes with Google notebook

  • Joey wants to sync whatever is on his desktop to his backpack account

  • Nellie wants to keep a directory on his laptop and his desktop in sync
  • Paul wants to keep his evolution contacts in sync with his mobile phone
  • Steve wants to keep his gnome preferences in sync between his two computers
  • John wants to keep a directory of OpenOffice documents in sync with copies held on Google Docs

  • Pete wants to have photos saved to his server to be pushed to an external back up (usb hard drive / off-site ftp)

Introduction

Conduit's goals are to synchronize your data as seamlessly as possible, be it from from remote device or remote websites. It is about extending your life as you see it needs to be, no longer constrained by data, devices or formats. Conduit enables you to take your data where you want when you want. All of your mobile devices could be synchronized automatically by Conduit. Home file back-ups to a remote server? Synced automatically.

It may sometimes seem that Conduit is overly complicated, one of the design goals has always been to make the interface as simple and intuitive as possible. However Conduit is much more powerful then the simplistic design may lead on. This documentation will describe all the configuration options for groups and data providers, while the following gives some examples of items you may wish to synchronize;

  • A GNOME user might store information in a wide variety of places on the desktop including;

    • Evolution (email, calendar, address book)

    • Tomboy (notes)

    • Directories (important files)
    • Photos
    • Bookmarks (web and feeds)
    • Music
  • The user might also use one of the many popular online services including
  • They probably also own another electronic device such as

Its hard enough keeping your information organized when limited to the desktop, let alone the added burden of keeping your information in sync with any of the other services or devices listed above.

Our goal for Conduit is to allow GNOME users to keep their information in sync. Irrespective of the type, irrespective of the way in which that information is stored. Conduit should just work.

Understanding the Conduit Interface

Introduction

Conduit has a few basic concepts worth understanding before you begin. Knowing these concepts will help you discover things that you never knew you could keep in sync, for example, uploading photos right from your mobile phone to Picasa!

The Conduit interface has four main components:

  1. The Menu
    • The file, edit and help menus store operations which apply to all groups. For more information on the contents of these menus, see below
  2. The Data Provider Pane
    • Located on the left hand side of the window, lists all of the data providers that are detected and ready for use on your system.
    • Data providers are the source or destination of data you wish to sync. Please refer to the Data Provider section of the documentation to receive instructions on how to configure each data provider.

  3. The Canvas Pane
    • Used to create groups of data providers to synchronize. Drag a data source to the left of the canvas pane and one or more data sinks to the right of the data pane to create a group. For more explanation on groups please check the Groups section of the documentation.

  4. The Conflicts Pane
    • If you receive any conflict notifications while trying to run a sync job they will be listed here. For information on how to deal with possible conflicts please check the Conflicts and Resolutions section of the documentation.

conduit-gui-parts.png

Data Providers and Groups

Conduit represents the things your want to synchronize graphically. When data providers get added to the canvas, the get arranged into so called groups. A group is a collection of data providers that share data. In the figure below you will see the following parts

conduit-dp.png

  1. A data provider for synchronizing two whose status indicates that it is ready to be synchronized.
  2. A group containing two folder data providers. The arrow has two ends, indicating that the two data providers will undergo a two way synchronization, that is data will flow in both directions, and both folders will contain the same information once the sync finishes.
  3. A second folder data provider. By convention, data providers that lie on the right had side of groups are called data sinks. This is because during a one way sync, data can only flow into them
  4. A Facebook and Picasa data provider for uploading images to those sites. Notice that that the group has three data providers, and the arrow has changed to indicate that data will flow in only one direction, that is images will be uploaded from F-Spot to Facebook and Picasa.

The Menu

The File Menu

  • Save Conduit saves all configured groups when you exit the application. If you have unchecked this option, then all data providers, groups, and the configuration of both, is saved when you select this item.
  • Synchronize All

    Synchronizes all groups at the same time. You can still run each sync group separately (see the Groups section), but this saves you the time of having to select and manually going through each group to start the sync process.

  • Quit closes conduit. You will be prompted to stop any synchronization currently in progress.

The Edit Menu

  • Clear Canvas Removes all configurations, data providers, and groups from the canvas pane. This allows you start using the canvas as it was a clean slate. The best time to use this is when you are re-configuring a large portion of your sync groups. There is no quick way to revert back after selecting this setting.
  • Preferences

    Global Conduit settings that effect all of your sync groups and basic Conduit operations. For more information please see the Conduit Preferences section of the documentation.

The Help Menu

  • Developers If you are developer, and interested in contributing to Conduit, then this option includes links to all the appropriate documentation.
  • Contents
  • About Shows the version number and a list of Conduit developers.

The Preferences Window

The Conduit preferences is accessed from the edit menu. Any setting or change that you make within the preferences menu effect all of your sync groups and basic Conduit operations

Configuration Tab

The configuration tab is where all of Conduit's global settings are configured. These settings apply to all synchronization groups

  • Save Settings on Exit
    • Instructs Conduit that all configured data providers and groups should be saved when the application exits
  • Show Status Icon
    • Shows a status icon in the notification area. This icon animates to indicate a sync is in progress.
  • Minimize to Notification Area
    • Instructs Conduit to minimize to the notification area instead of to the panel
  • Use Built in Web Browser
    • When a data provider requires that you log onto a website, this option tells conduit to use its own web browser to do so.
  • When an Item Has Been Deleted
  • Where There is a Two Way Conflict

Data Providers Tab

This tab shows a list of the data providers that are currently installed.

Data Conversions Tab

This tab lists the data conversions that Conduit is capable of performing.

Mapping DB

This is a list of the UID that Conduit uses to maintain accurate sync data from different sources. Here you have the option to clear the mapping database.

The Web Login Window

Sometimes you will be required to log into a website associated with certain data providers. The frequency at which you may have to log in is not determined by Conduit, but by the security policy of the respective data provider. For example, Box.net requires you to log in every time Conduit is run, whereas Flickr only requires you to log in once, to give permission to Conduit to upload photos. If you are required to log into a website, and you have selected the 'use built in web browser' from the Conduit preferences, then a window will pop up like the one shown below.

conduit-login.png


Synchronizing Something

This section describes the steps required to synchronize two data providers. The example given illustrates how to synchronize two folders but the concepts are applicable to anything you wish to synchronize. If you need more information on specific settings please refer to the corresponding section of the documentation.

Introduction

The image above contains two groups. This section will describe the steps to recreate those groups.

  • The top group depicts a two way synchronization of two folders
  • The bottom group depicts a one way sync of images, from F-Spot to Facebook, and to the Picasa web albums.

Example 1: Synchronizing Two Folders

The following steps will recreate the two way synchronization group shown as #1 in the figure above.

  1. On your desktop create three folders named folder1, folder2, and folder3. Drag a file of your choice into folder1.
  2. Start Conduit
  3. Add a data provider for folder1

    • From the data provider pane, drag the folder data provider and drop it on the left hand side of the canvas pane. This will be the data source that we are going to sync from.
  4. Configure folder1

    • Double click on the data provider you recently dropped on the canvas. This will bring up the folder configuration window as shown below. Enter something memorable in the name field and change the Folder Location to the folder you created in step 1. conduit-folder-configuration.png

  5. Add a data provider for folder2

    • Drag another folder data provider from the pane on the left. This time drop it adjacent to the folder1 data provider. This should result in an arrow connecting it to folder1 being created.
  6. Configure folder2

    • Configure the data provider so that its Folder Location points to folder2 on the desktop, and importantly, its Folder Name is the same as that entered in step #4.

  7. Configure the synchronization parameters
    • Right click on the associated group, and under sync options, select a two way sync. Since this is just a basic run through on how to setup a sync we are not going to go through any advanced syncing options in this section of the documentation. If you wish more information on the options available, please see the Groups section of the documentation.

  8. Synchronize the two folders by right clicking on them and selecting sync, or from the file menu. Once the sync is finished you should the file that you placed in folder1 on your desktop within folder2.

Example 2: Exporting Images to Multiple Destinations

The second group shown in Figure 3 shows a single F-Spot data source exporting its photos to two data sinks, a Facebook one, and a Picasa one.

  1. Start Conduit
  2. Start F-Spot
  3. Drag a F-Spot data provider from the data provider pane and drop it onto an empty spot on the canvas. A new group containing just the F-Spot data provider will be created.
  4. Drag Facebook and Picasa data providers into the Group that was just created.
  5. Configure the data providers by double clicking on them.
  6. Now synchronize the group to upload photos. You will be prompted to log into Facebook using the Conduit login window, shown in Figure 2

Summary

All sync operations work exactly like this. The only difference is the data you are syncing and the providers you are using. You always follow the same sequence of steps,

  1. Add data providers to create a new group, or to an existing group.
  2. Configure the data providers. Each data provider requires a unique configuration. For reference on these please the Data Providers section of the documentation.

  3. Configure the group, selecting what should happen on conflict, etc.
  4. Synchronize the data providers as you wish.

Network Synchronization

If you have two computers at home, Conduit can be used to synchronize the data between them, directly, without first having to store the data somewhere else first. The steps below will illustrate how to synchronize Tomboy notes on two computers, called nzjrs-desktop and nzjrs-laptop.

NOTE

  1. On the first computer create a synchronization group connecting Tomboy to the Network data provider, which is listed in the Miscellaneous category in the data provider pane. This makes Tomboy available for synchronization on the second computer.
  2. After a short delay, this will result in a new category being created on the second computer. The category will take the name of the first computer, nzjrs-desktop in my case, and it shall contain any data providers currently available for synchronization.
  3. Still on the second computer, drag the Tomboy data provider from the newly created category onto the canvas. Notice how its name is 'Remote Tomboy', indicating it refers to data on the remote, or first, computer.
  4. Finally, on the second computer, start the sync in the normal manner
  5. Your tomboy notes should now be synchronized between the two computers

NOE




HELP BELOW THIS POINT IS WORK IN PROGRESS AND HAS NOT BEEN COMMITTED TO SVN YET





Synchronization

Conduit supports syncing with data providers in three different modes with the option of a slow sync in addition to normal operation:


One Way Synchronization

1. http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/actions/conduit-conflict-right.pngThe first method is a one way synchronization from one data provider to another data provider. This takes the data from the source, shown on the left, and puts it into one or more sinks, shown on the right.


Two Way Synchronization

2. http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/actions/conduit-conflict-left.png http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/actions/conduit-conflict-right.pngThe second data synchronization method is a two way sync that keeps the data between two data providers up to date.


Always Up To Date

3. The third method is always up to date, this method watches the two data providers and watches for changes. If there are any changes on either side it will replicate the changes on the other data provider.


Slow Sync

Synchronization also supports an option called slow sync. This may be required in some circumstances if you find that a regular sync does not transfer all of your data.


Limitations

There is some limitations to the synchronization type you wish to use. These limitations are

  • If you are syncing from one source to two or more sinks then Conduit only supports a one way sync.

  • Some data providers can only be sources or sinks. This is shown by the small icon drawn in the data provider list on the left.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-source.pngSource - A data provider that is only a source can only provide data to a data sink. This means it can be read from but it can not be written to.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-sink.pngSink - A data provider that is only a sink can only receive data from a data source. This means it can be written to, but you are unable to retrieve or read data from it.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngTwo way - A two way data provider is a fully functional data source and data sink. It can be read from or written to depending on what it is paired with.


Synchronization Status Messages

UPDATE


Conflicts and Resolutions

UPDATE


File Deletions

UPDATE


Mismatched Data

UPDATE


Unsupported Sync Pairs

Some data sources and sinks can not be paired together. There are many reasons for this, some are technological, some are feasibility, some just limitations of format types. For example you can not sync your Banshee playlists to your Google Calendar since MP3's are not supported embedded inside a Google Calendar. When you configure two unsupported sync pairs instead of the normal black arrow going from source to sink in a supported method you will receive a red arrow instead. This red arrow signifies that the pairing you chose is invalid and will not work.

You may still find a pairing that in some ways should work, but is not intended at this point. For a list of supported pairings please look under the data provider's supported sources and destinations in the documentation to make sure that you are trying to configure a supported method. If you find a pairing that is logical and should work please contact the Conduit project via a bug request or on the mailing list.


Data Providers

Data providers are the the heart and soul of Conduit. You can add multiple data providers, into a group simply by dragging them from the list on the left, to the canvas in the middle.

To configure a data provider double click on it, or select configure item from the right click menu. You may also right click on the item and click refresh to make sure that the data provider is configured correctly.

As mentioned previously data providers can be a data source or a data sink. A data source as the name implies can send data to other data providers, some data providers can only act as data sources. A data sink can only act a destination accepting data, some data providers can only act as data sinks. The limitations that cause data providers to act in only one way is based on available API's or program limitations. The Conduit project is working hard to provide data provider objects that can act as both data sources and data sinks. The data providers that are capable of acting as both can be configured either as a data source, data sink, or both at the same time when you use them with another data provider that supports both. When both data providers can act as a data source or data sink you can configure the group to perform a two sync or use the up to date synchronization option.

Data Providers are logically separated into categories according to their function, the basic categories are

  • Media
  • Photos
  • Files and Folders
  • Notes
  • Office
  • Miscellaneous


Media Data Providers

The media data category type is primarily for music and music play lists. There are two default data provider types underneath this category:


Rhythm Box Music

  • This allows you to do a one way sync of your Rhythmbox music playlists.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-source.pngThis is a one way source sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Select from available playlists
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folders
    • iPods, Supported MP3 Players, Mobile Devices


Banshee Playlists

  • This allows you to do a one way sync of your Banshee playlists.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-source.pngThis is a one way source sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Select from available playlists
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folders
    • Ipods, Supported MP3 Players, Mobile Devices


Photo Data Providers

The photos data category is primarily used for syncing photos from one data provider to another. There are six data providers beneath this category:


F-Spot Photos

  • This allows you to sync from Gnomes F-Spot Photo Organizer. More information on f-spot is located at f-spot.org. This sends photos to other data providers.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two-way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • You may select the tags you wish to synchronization to a remote data provider
  • Supported Sources
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a source
    • RSS Feed with photo enclosures
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can act as a sink


Shutterfly

  • This allows you to sync to your Shutterfly web photo storage account located at www.shutterfly.com.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-sink.pngThis is a one way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Your username is the e-mail address you signed up to the service with
    • You must enter in an album name
  • Supported Sources
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a source
    • RSS Feed with photo enclosures


Facebook

  • This allows you to sync photos to your Facebook account located at www.facebook.com.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-sink.pngThis is a one way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • None required
  • Supported Sources
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a source
    • RSS Feed with photo enclosures
  • Notes:
    • Conduit automatically resizes photos up to the supported Facebook maximum size
    • Every time you restart Conduit and sync to this data provider a browser applet will load and have you log into Facebook to authorize this application. This is a Facebook security requirement


Picasa

  • This allows you to sync to Google's Picasaweb online photo storage account located at picasaweb.google.com.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two-way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Username and Password
    • Album Name
    • You also have the option to resize the photos to different resolutions options include 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768.
  • Supported Sources
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a source
    • RSS Feed with photo enclosures
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a sink
  • Notes:
    • Picasa's album names are case sensitive
    • Picasa's albums have a limitation of 500 items per album. (This is a limit of the Picasa service and not Conduit)


SmugMug

  • This allows you to sync to the SmugMug photo sharing service located at www.smugmug.com.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two-way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Username
    • Password
    • Album Name
  • Supported Sources
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a source
    • RSS Feed with photo enclosures
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a sink


Flickr

  • This allows you to sync from your Flickr web photo storage account located at www.flickr.com.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two-way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Your username and photo set name.
    • You may select if your photos are public – if this option is not checked the photos synced to it are set to private.
    • You also have the option to resize the photos to different resolutions options include 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768.
  • Supported Sources
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a source
    • RSS Feed with photo enclosures
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any of the Photo Data Providers that can acts as a sink
  • Notes:
    • Your username you configure is your Flickr public name not the Yahoo ID you login to Flickr with, unless they are identical.


Files and Folders Data Providers

The files and folders category type is primarily for syncing files and folders or data conversion. There are three default data provider types underneath this category:


Files

  • This allows you to sync a specific file or group of files to a data sink.
    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-source.pngThis is a one way source sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Browse and select files to synchronize
    • Browse and select directories to synchronize
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any Data Provider that can act as sink


Folder

  • This allows you to sync folders and the information within them. It may operate as a data source or a data sink in your configuration.
    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Folder Name - Decide what you want to name the folder within Conduit
    • Select to include hidden files or not
    • Select to ignore file modification times
    • Select folders location
  • Supported Sources
    • Any Data Provider that can act as source
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any Data Provider that can act as sink


Box.net

  • This allows you to sync files to and from your Box.net account.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Select folders name to sync on box.net servers
  • Supported Sources
    • Any Data Provider that can act as source
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any Data Provider that can act as sink
  • Notes:
    • Every time you restart Conduit and sync to this data provider a browser applet will load and have you log into Box.net to authorize this application. This is a Box.net security requirement


Notes Data Providers

The notes data category type is primarily for syncing files and folders or data conversion. There are two default data provider types underneath this category:


BackPack

  • This allows you to sync notes from your backpackit.com account to your local computer.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-sink.pngThis is a one way sink sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Configure Username
    • Insert API Key
    • Select which page name you want to save synced notes on
  • Supported Sources
    • Tomboy Notes
  • Notes:
    • To retrieve your API key login to backpackit.com once logged in go to the upper right hand side of the screen and click the "My Info" link, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "Show Your API Key". Take this key and copy into the Conduit configuration under "Insert API Key".


Tomboy Notes

  • This allows you to sync local notes from the Tomboy application in Gnome.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • No configuration needed
  • Supported Sources
    • Tomboy Notes from a Network Provider
  • Supported Destinations
    • Tomboy Notes from a Network Provider
    • BackPack Notes


Office Data Providers

The office data category type is primarily for information or data that is used for PIM (Personal Information Manager) programs. There are seven default data provider types underneath this category:


Google Calender

  • This allows you to sync notes from Google Calender to your local computer.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • G-Mail Address
    • Password
    • Load and select which calender to use
  • Supported Sources
    • Evolution Calender
  • Supported Destinations
    • Evolution Calender
    • Folder


Google Contacts

  • This allows you to sync your G-mail Contacts using Google's new contact database.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-source.pngThis is a one way source sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Username
    • Password
  • Supported Destinations
    • Evolution Contacts
    • Folder


Google E-Mail

  • This allows you to sync the e-mail you send and receive on G-Mail.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Username
    • Password
    • Return E-mails Matching:
      • All E-Mails
      • Unread E-Mails
      • E-Mails Matching Label (list specific label)
      • E-Mails in Folder (select Folder)
        • Inbox
        • Starred
        • All
        • Drafts
        • Sent
        • Spam
    • When saving E-mails - Apply a Specific Label and Manually Enter That Label
  • Supported Sources
    • File
    • Folder
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folder


Evolution Memos

  • This allows you to sync memos from the Evolution PIM program.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Select an Evolution memos folder
  • Supported Sources
    • File
    • Folder
    • Evolution Memos on another computer via the Network Provider
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folder
    • Evolution Memos on another computer via the Network Provider


Evolution Tasks

  • This allows you to sync tasks from the Evolution PIM program.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Select an Evolution tasks folder
  • Supported Sources
    • File
    • Folder
    • Evolution Tasks on another computer via the Network Provider
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folder
    • Evolution Tasks on another computer via the Network Provider


Evolution Contacts

  • This allows you to sync contacts from the Evolution PIM program.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Select an Evolution contacts folder
  • Supported Sources
    • File
    • Folder
    • Evolution Contacts on another computer via the Network Provider
    • Google Contacts
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folder
    • Evolution Contacts on another computer via the Network Provider


Evolution Calender

  • This allows you to sync calender entries from the Evolution PIM program.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Select an Evolution calendar folder
  • Supported Sources
    • File
    • Folder
    • Evolution Calender on another computer via the Network Provider
    • Google Calender
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folder
    • Evolution Calender on another computer via the Network Provider
    • Google Calender


Miscellaneous Data Providers

The miscellaneous data category type is primarily used for data providers that don't fit neatly into another category. When a trend is perceived amongst miscellaneous items for grouping, a new group will be created for them and they will be categorized accurately. There are four default data provider types underneath this category:


YouTube

  • This allows you to sync remote YouTube videos onto your local computer.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-source.pngThis is a one way source sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Most Viewed
    • Top Rated
    • By User (type in Username)
      • Uploaded by specific user
      • Favorites of a specific user
    • Max Retrieve Videos (Specify how many to download 0 is equal to unlimited)
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folder


RSS Feed

  • This allows you to sync RSS feeds from your LAN or the Internet and download the enclosures locally or remotely depending on the data sink it is paired with.
    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-source.pngThis is a one way source sync module

  • Configuration:
    • Configure feed address
    • Configure if you wish to limit the number of enclosures
    • Configure number of enclosures to limit downloading
    • Configure to limit it to images
    • Configure to limit it to audio
    • Configure to limit it to video
  • Supported Destinations
    • Folder
    • Photo Data Provider Sinks
  • Notes:
    • Currently the RSS feed option only downloads enclosures. This means it can handle enclosed images, video, or audio; but currently it can not extract the text data from an RSS feed that isn't configured within an enclosure.


Network

  • This allows you to sync to and from your local network using the Avahi network discovery protocol. This allows you to sync with other computers over your network that also are syncing to or from the network data provider.

    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • No configuration needed
  • Supported Sources
    • Any Data Provider that can act as source
  • Supported Destinations
    • Any Data Provider that can act as sink
  • Notes:
    • Depending on VPN configurations and ISP there is limited support on using this to sync across the Internet.


GConf Settings

  • This allows you to sync Gnome configuration settings from one computer to another.
    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module

  • Configuration:
    • No configuration needed
  • Supported Sources
    • GConf Settings Data Provider via Network Provider
    • Folder
    • File
  • Supported Destinations
    • GConf Settings Data Provider via Network Provider
    • Folder


Device Data Providers

When a supported device is detected new data providers will become available. MP3 Players, cellular phones, and other mobile devices fall underneath this data provider category.


iPod

  • This allows you to sync to your iPod portable MP3 player.
    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module UPDATE/VERIFY

  • Configuration:
    • UPDATE
  • Supported Sources
    • Any Media Data Provider
    • Folder
    • File
  • Supported Destinations
    • UPDATE


Nokia N800

  • This allows you to sync to your UPDATE.
    • http://svn.gnome.org/svn/conduit/trunk/data/icons/hicolor/16x16/status/conduit-twoway.pngThis is a two way sync module UPDATE/VERIFY

  • Configuration:
    • UPDATE
  • Supported Sources
    • UPDATE
  • Supported Destinations
    • UPDATE


Groups

All data providers are organized into groups for sync pairings. There are two types of groupings that you can create a simple group or an advanced group. Both have their benefits and usage, unfortunately they both have their limitations also. Please read the description for both to use the correct group for your synchronization needs. For any group you decide to use always be aware that you can only configure a single source in your group.


Simple Groups

A simple group is a one that contains a single source and a single data provider sink. If the two data providers you are using support two-way sync, then you can configure as a two way sync or an always up-to-date sync.


Advanced Groups

An advanced includes a source and two or more data provider sinks. You can configure a group to sync from your Flickr account to both your Smugmug and Picasa accounts within one group. Any time you use more then a single destination within your group it becomes and advanced group. Most functionality remains that you get with using a simple group, but two things you do loose are the options to do a two-way and an always up-to-date sync. Losing this ability means that you are limited to one way syncs of the data within this group. Any other options or data conversions that you have with a simple group will still work with an advanced group.


Group Options

To get to your group options right click in the center of your group on the canvas pane. The following options will be available to you via the drop down box:

  • UPDATE


Conversion and Transcoding

There are two methods from a user interaction stand point that exist within Conduit for converting or transcoding data. For simplicity sake we are going to refer to both types of transformation as conversions. The first method is active conversions, this type of conversions is one where you have to choose or make a selection for the data to be transformed from one type to another. The second conversion is a passive conversion/ A passive conversion uses "smart filters" to logically interpret what you are trying to do and handles the details automatically with no user configuration required.


Active Conversions

Currently the most visible active conversion is handled by the Photo Data providers. Active conversion allows you to choose if you want to resize images to a different resolution upon syncing, if you do wish to, it allows you to choose which resolution.


Passive Conversions

Passive conversions are when there is a data type conversion or format conversion from one data type to another. Since syncing different data items usually means taking the actual data and converting it to the format the remote side uses, this is the most popular type of conversion or transcoding that happens in the background. Some examples of this are converting data from an evolution calender and placing it into the Google calender format, or Taking Tomboy notes and automatically uploading and formatting it in a format that Backpack servers will accept and store.

Conduit is designed to use passive conversions where ever possible, by intelligently knowing what type of data you need from one data provider to another it handles the process for you.


Image Formats

While Conduit doesn't actually convert between different image formats at this time, what is supported is image resizing based on the Photo Data Provider configurations settings.

Supported Image Types:

  • JPG
  • GIF
  • BMP
  • PNG

Supported Image Conversions:

  • None - There will be no change or conversion occurring when this is selected
  • 640x480 - This will convert your images to a resolution of 640x480
  • 800x600 - This will convert your images to a resolution of 800x600
  • 1024x768 - This will convert your images to a resolution of 1024x768


Text Formats

Text files are the hardest to classify since there is technically many formats within each text type. For example the text for an Evolution Calendar event and a Google Calender event are both classified as text formats. However there is obvious conversion that takes places. If you need the intricacies of each text format and how they are converted please refer to the developer documentation.

Supported Text Formats:

  • Contact
  • E-mail
  • Event
  • Note
  • File
  • Setting
  • Text

Supported Text Conversions:

  • text -> setting

  • text -> event

  • text -> note

  • text -> file

  • text -> e-mail

  • setting -> text

  • setting -> file

  • file -> file

  • event -> file

  • note -> file

  • contact -> file

  • file -> text

  • file -> setting

  • file -> file

  • file -> event

  • file -> note

  • file -> contact

  • file -> e-mail

  • e-mail -> file


Audio Formats

Conduit does provide transcoding and conversion of audio formats.

Supported Audio Formats:

  • mp3
  • ogg

Supported Audio Conversions:

  • ogg -> ogg

  • mp3 -> ogg


Video Formats

Conduit does provide transcoding and conversion of video formats.

Supported Video Formats:

  • ogg
  • divx
  • mov
  • avi
  • wmv
  • flv

Support Video Conversions:

  • ogg -> divx

  • mov -> divx

  • avi -> divx

  • wmv -> divx

  • flv -> divx


Supported Mobile and Audio Devices

Conduit relies on built in Linux detection of Mobile Devices. Because of this some devices are not inherently supported or detected as native devices as Sync Points

MP3 Players

  • Ipods

Cellular Phones

  • Currently there are no inherently supported cellular phones, but we're working on it.

Other Mobile Devices

Unsupported Device Workarounds

If your device mounts in Linux with a file system you can browse, then you can use the folder data provider to sync information to any unsupported device.


HOWTO's

UPDATE WITH LINKS AND OR DOCS


Troubleshooting

Unfortunately we all know that no matter what we do to prevent it, there are always issues that someone will run across. To handle some of the basic issues, we are going to go over some of the common error message you may run across and explain them to you:


I accidentally clicked 'Clear Canvas'

There is only one supported scenario to recover your previous canvas if you accidentally select the clear canvas option. If in a previous session you had click Save on the file menu and you do not have Save on Exit selected in your Conduit preferences, then you can exit out of Conduit and reload it. When you do this your groups should be recovered. If you need to try this procedure make sure before you exit that Save on Exit is unchecked in your Conduit Preferences.

Data Provider Not Configured Correctly

There are a couple issues that can cause this:

1. Make sure that you have configured all the settings for the data provider you are using. Verify the options are filled in that are required. Please check the documentation for the configuration of the data provider that is giving you this warning.

2. You are using a pairing of a source and destination data providers that is not supported to work together. Please check the documentation for the supported source or destination that you are trying to pair with.


I Can't Cancel My Sync

Currently Conduit does have an option to pause or cancel a sync in progress without exiting the program. Choosing quit from the option menu will exit you from Conduit, but it will also end the sync gracefully.


My Sync is Hanging

There are a few issues that can cause a sync to hang, if hanging happens consistently with the same group settings please open a bug request (see Where To Go For More Information. If however it is not consistent there are ways we can troubleshoot this on the end user side. If you are trying to sync a source with a lot of information it may take a long time to refresh and catalog the data. This can cause Conduit to appear to hang. If you wait long enough Conduit should recover. Another option that can cause Conduit to appear to hang would be slow or intermittent network connectivity, please verify and test your network connectivity to insure that it is working properly.


My Issue Isn't Listed

If you are receiving an error or having an issue with something that is not covered in this documentation please check under the Where to Go For More Information section to contact the Conduit Mailing List, Search the Bug List, or Submit a Bug Request.


Where To Go For More Information

Main Project Site

The main project site is located at http://www.conduit-project.org/

Documentation Site

The Conduit End-User Documentation is located at http://live.gnome.org/Conduit/Documentation

Developer Documentation

Developer Documentation can be located at http://www.conduit-project.org/wiki/Development

Mailing List

You can join the Conduit Mailing List at http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/conduit-list. If you prefer to join the discussion via Google Groups, we are available there also, the address is http://groups.google.com/group/conduit-list.

Bug List / Known Issues

To browse the bug list feel free to peruse https://bugzilla.gnome.org/browse.cgi?product=conduit

To submit a new issue or bug please go to https://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=conduit

Screencasts

The following screencasts are available demonstrating the operation of Conduit.

Relationship with Other Projects

Conduit has not been designed to replace opensync or gnokii. Rather it should complement them. By being so easy to write plugins for Conduit should allow it to keep pace with all the new online data services.

Attic/Conduit/Documentation/UserDocumentation (last edited 2019-01-12 21:52:32 by AndreKlapper)